Campbell is the softly spoken singer-songwriter and cellist who was one of the founder members of Belle & Sebastian before forming her own band The Gentle Waves. Lanegan is the gravelly voiced lead-singer of grunge band Screaming Trees and occasionally of Queens of the Stone Age. His baritone has the deep, gruff, roughness of Tom Waits or Johnny Cash and has eloquently been described as "scratchy as a three day beard yet as supply and pliable as moccasin leather."
Vocally they make an unusual duo; the angelic wall flower and the dangerous but compelling stranger. The Ballad of the Broken Seas could be a soundtrack to a Southern Gothic romance.
The record follows a similar path to the wonderful duet albums of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood; classic pop, country, old American standards and historical sounding ballads that surely should have been written in some shotgun shack in 19th Century Mississippi, not by Ms Campbell in 21st Century Glasgow.
Owing a debt to the classic Nancy & Lee album it is also very reminiscent of Nick Cave's softer and more romantic moments and also The Tindersticks at their finest.
The production is rich, textured, warm and seductive. It begins with the dark march, Deus Ibi Est which translates as "God is Present". It's a sinister start to the album and sets the tone of what's to come... "impending storm rise up rise up / Oh demons i shall shame you / look down the barrel of my gun and one by one I'll name you"
The album has a classic, historical feel, as if you're listening to the soundtrack to a bleak American drama. You can almost hear the fans in the saloon. The creaks of wooden floors. Feel the heat of the setting sun and imagine the perspiration on dirty necks.
This period feel is most obvious on 'Black Mountain' a re-working of traditional 'Scarborough Fair', the courteous and gentlemanly 'Do You Wanna to Come Walk with Me?' and the instrumental track 'Dusty Wreaths'.
At times there's a tangible sense of impending danger, such as Lanegan's menacing 'Revolver' or the eerie 'Saturday's Gone' or the hymn-like track 'Ballad of the Broken Seas'.
Amongst the sinister undertones there are moments of lightness such as the raunchy take on the Hank Williams standard 'Rambling Man' or the classically crafted pop of 'Honey Child What Can I Do?' which has some of the loveliest lyrics on the album: "Maybe I'm a stupid fool / chasin' butterflies like you / on these days they seem so cruel / but honey, child what can I do?"
The album ends on downbeat note with the 'The Circus Is Leaving Town'. Lanegan sings "The parties over now, so draw the curtains down". He draws to a close an album that is evocative, haunting and intoxicating.
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